Friends on a Ship

Posted on Tue Jan 26, 2016 @ 1:58am by Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

1,163 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Fall
Location: Penny's Quarters
Timeline: Immediately after Movie Night

Penny didn't need her lights on to see, didn't need any of the things she'd thrown around her room and certainly didn't need whoever was ringing her chime. She ignored thirty-seven chimes in a row before they finally went silent and let her be in peace.

At least until the lock was overridden and the doors opened obligingly.

Nicole walked in and kicked a few things away to form a path to pace in. "Stupid....arrogant....self-righteous...IDIOT!" she screamed.

"What's your issue?" Penny said, sniffling slightly.

"I told AJ about Chris," Nicole said. "I explained what happened, and he threw me out of his quarters."

"And for that he's an arrogant, self-righteous idiot?" Penny said, confused.

"No, that would be our dear friend Cassie," Nicole growled.

"Why about her?" Penny said, curious.

"I had a perfectly fine thing going with AJ and she had me go and spoil it! I was doing just fine before you two came here, and I didn't need anyone butting in!"

"Hey don't go throwing blame on me!" Penny said indignantly. "I just went where I was told!"

"Yes, by all means," a new voice suddenly said, "put all the onus on me."

"Lights," Penny said, and her quarters were instantly illuminated, showing Cassandra standing in a corner, her gold compact in hand.

"Dear God, Penny," Cassandra said, looking around, "do you ever clean your quarters?"

Penny made a rude gesture and laid back down on her bed.

Nicole folded her arms, her eyes blazing red and her hair curled. "And yes, I am putting this on you. I was just--"

"Fine?" Cassandra echoed. "So waking up screaming from nightmares, cutting ties with your loved-ones, being terrified of your own abilities, that's 'fine' for you?"

"I was dealing," Nicole said.

"You were a time bomb," Cassandra said, also folding her arms. "You were in a position you couldn't sustain and eventually you would have gone off, either harming yourself or someone else. I saw a friend in need, and I came to help."

"Yes, thank you so much, I feel so much happier now that you're here," Nicole groused.

"I didn't come here to make you happy," Cassandra said, quietly.

"Mission accomplished," Nicole said.

"I came here to make you whole," Cassandra finished, undeterred. "Happiness is a choice you make for yourself. You made a choice with Chris, and with AJ. I can't stand here and monitor every choice you make."

"So what now?" Nicole said. "We hug and kiss and tell each other we're still friends and go off skipping?"

Cassandra shrugged and moved to sit down in a chair. "That would save me a lot of time and--" she stopped mid-sentence and jumped backup, a pointed knick-knack of Penny's having poked her rudely. She huffed in annoyance and took a breath, her eyes glazing over with the swirling miasma of the Galactic Barrier. "Omnium haec loca, quae suo loco!" she shouted, spreading her arms wide, and immediately everything in Penny's room shot like a bullet, flying onto shelves, into drawers and in general back where they were supposed to be. Cassandra blinked and her eyes returned to their usual violet. She sat down on the now empty chair and took a breath to compose herself.

"Wow," Penny said. "Can you come in and do that, like, once a week?"

Cassandra glared at her then rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Cass," Nicole started, but caught herself as Cassandra held up a hand.

Cass snapped her fingers and a violet pentagram appeared over her open palm. It began to spin and reformed into a pewter wine glass, which Cassandra plucked out of the air. She took a long drink, then sighed and placed it on the table. "Do you have any idea," she said finally, "what a colossal pain in the ass you are?"

Nicole sat down as well. "I assume you mean me," she said. "And love you too, Cass."

Cass smiled softly, then yawned; her energy was fading fast. "All right, we're going to do this very quickly, because I do not have time for the long, drawn out version."

She looked at the two of them and shook her head. "A month ago, I would have said you two have about equal chances of falling for someone, and now look at you. But each of you need to fight for these relationships. You can't be passive players or wait for him to come to you." She looked Nicole in the eye. "Especially you."

Nicole bristled a bit, but kept it in check. "Hard to fight for someone when he flat out said he wouldn't fight for me." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Not that I want him to fight like I'm some prize. I don't need two neanderthals engaging in some hormonal overload to prove whose is bigger."

"God, Organics are weird," Penny said.

"Do you listen to yourself sometimes?" Cass said, shaking her head at Nicole. "Do you want him to fight for your affections or not?"

Nicole frowned and shrugged. "'for me,' yes. 'Over me,' no. It'd be nice if he at least cared enough to."

"He does," Cass said. "But right now, he's hurt and he's emotional and he is doing the same thing you would: he's circling the wagons around his feelings. He'll come out of that eventually, but when he's ready."

She looked over at Penny. "And as for you? You need to confront Thomas about yourself. You should have done that some time ago, now you have no choice."

When the other two girls sat with their heads down, thinking, Cass stood up, albeit a bit wobbly. "Now, since I am completely drained, I am going to my quarters for some food and rest. By the time I wake up, I expect you two to have made a decision and moved on with it. If you want to be happy, then go after what it is that'll make you happy. I've tried to give you the tools to do so, and that is the limit of what I can do for you. I can't force you to find happiness, that's on you. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go write a letter to my fiance, and collapse from exhaustion."

With that, she walked out of Penny's quarters, leaving the other two to contemplate.

Nicole and Penny looked at each other. "So now what?" Nicole said.

Penny shrugged. "Guess talk to them," she said.

Nicole shook her head. "I need a night's sleep first. Tomorrow might be better."

Penny rolled her eyes. "For you maybe. You aren't spending your shift sitting next to AJ."

"Look on the bright side," Nicole said, heading for the door, "plenty of chances to talk." She blew Penny a kiss and left.

Penny sighed and wriggled under her covers. "Here's to tomorrow," she said.

JP


Penny Naroot
CFCO

Nicole Anderson
CMO

Cassandra Sanders
Ship's Counselor

 

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